« August 27, 2005 | Main | September 9, 2005 »

August 31, 2005

Hurricane Katrina - Worse Than You Think - Please Help

By: The Dude on the Right
Fine, they are finally starting to realize the magnitude of the disaster that is taking place thanks to hurricane Katrina, and it's bad enough with the devastation in places like Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi, but I can't help but wonder, and be kind of incensed, as to why did it take so long for the major networks to realize what was happening in New Orleans, in our own country?  Isn't there one person there who could have said "Umm, guys, New Orleans is below sea level, the levee's are broken and the pumps are broken, that pretty much means New Orleans is going to fill up with water, that pretty much means that water isn't going to go anywhere, anytime, quickly, and that water will be filled with polluted chemicals, dead bodies, and creepy critters.  We're looking at a catastrophe of major, even biblical proportions, maybe we should get on this and get the public aware of what is going on so maybe they can realize the extent of the devastation other than the fact that their gas prices going up more than fifty cents in a day."  But no, the major networks continue with mostly their normal programming, and the only folks really covering this are the cable news people.

NBC has announced a fundraising concert/broadcast, scheduled for Friday at 8PM EDT, at oooh, an entire hour.  Alright, that's kind of a jab, but at least they are doing something, but my feelings are still this:  ISN'T ANYONE REALIZING THE MAGNITUDE OF THIS DEVASTATION OTHER THAN THE PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES HAVE BEEN DEVASTATED?  I hate to compare this to the World Trade Center attacks, they are sort of different, yet a lot the same, and maybe even worse.  We don't know the extent of loss of life from Katrina, it might only be hundreds, yet it might be in the thousands, but the difference is the number of people whose lives have been uprooted, probably for months, maybe even years, and it is a far magnitude greater than when we were attacked.  Yes, I know the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon were horrific, and maybe it's because they were so visual, and maybe at least for those, we had someone to blame, but there doesn't seem to be the same American spirit associated with this event.  You may say something like "Well, they should have gotten out of there, they knew it was coming," and I say "There are hundreds of thousands who evacuated and are now wondering when, if ever, they will see anything they owned ever again, let alone figure out when, where, how, they will work and live again."  You may say something like "They knew the risk of living where they lived," and I say "It doesn't matter where you live, you live within a catastrophic, natural disaster.  I live in Illinois and we have a major earthquake fault, fine, more Missouri, but still Illinois, called the New Madrid Fault that now that I know is here, maybe I'm not in such a safe place except for the occasional blizzard or tornado.  You might have a volcano on your horizon, you might also have an earthquake, you might have tsunami caused by some crap breaking off a shelf over in Europe or Africa that will level you.  You never know the risk.

Fine, I'm rambling some for this blog entry, I suppose because it bugs me that New Orleans and other sites of the Katrina devastation aren't getting the attention they deserve.  I've got a fun weekend waiting for me, spending it in downtown Chicago, hitting a lot of the places my friends and I usually hit, and catching Jimmy Buffett for a couple of shows at Wrigley Field, but right now, and it will probably hold at times during the weekend, I see a couple of images in my head.  One is of a dead body, floating in their house or their attic, peaceful now, but knowing their life came to a terrible end.  Another is of the people stuck in hotel rooms, even the Superdome, where they have no power, no plumbing, no water, shitting in a toilet that won't flush, and wondering how I would hold up.  The last is that I looked at the block I live on as I was coming home today, picturing it in my mind if all of it was gone.  It's not the same as what they are going through because my home was still there, but hundreds of thousands of people are, right now, wondering what they are going to do tomorrow.   For most of the rest of us, we know.

Please donate.  From my eyes, this devastation is many times worse than you think it is, at least, unless, you've been watching the cable news channels.  Right now they seem to understand.  I only hope the rest of us realize it.

This will probably be my last blog until sometime next week, mostly because I'll be away from any computer connections and drinking too much.  If you are pregnant, have a good Labor Day (get it, Labor Day :) ), if you are in the labor industry, have a good Labor Day, but in any case, remember, think, or pray if it is your thing, for all of the people impacted by Hurricane Katrina.  They deserve your support as much as anyone you have donated you help before.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:36 PM | Comments (0)